It started with a tomato.
A very soft, very aggressive heirloom tomato that slipped out of Danny's hands and splattered onto the foot of a stranger at the South Austin Farmer's Market.
"Whoa, murder fruit," the stranger said, looking down at her sandal. "You okay there, Picasso?"
Danny looked up from his crouch, mortified, tomato juice on his hoodie.
"I swear I'm not usually this... produce-violent."
The woman was maybe his age. Or maybe timeless in that confident, easy-smiling way. She wore a sundress and sunglasses and had a canvas bag that said "Kale Yeah."
She extended a napkin. "I'm Mae."
"Danny. And I'm very sorry about your foot."
"It's okay. You only mildly assaulted it with salad."
He grinned.
They ended up walking the market together—first out of guilt, then because of chemistry. Mae was a local illustrator. Freelance. Funny. Fluent in sarcasm. She once drew a comic strip about anxiety squirrels and sold it to a zine that paid her in almond butter.
Danny, of course, told her everything too fast. His show. His scooter crash legacy. Mrs. Beverly. The burrito incident. The time he was mistaken for a life coach at a yoga retreat and gave terrible advice for three hours.
Mae laughed until she snorted.
"I think I've seen that video," she said. "You're like a cartoon character in human form."
Danny shrugged. "I try."
They exchanged numbers over kombucha.
She walked away holding a bag of weird carrots and waved.
Danny immediately tripped on a chia seed sample table and knocked over three decorative gourds.
One Month Later
They were official.
As official as two hot mess creatives could be.
Their first kiss happened on Danny's garage porch after he spilled ginger beer on his pants and she offered to help clean it but ended up laughing too hard to move.
Their third date was ruined by a raccoon stealing Danny's leftover tacos and Mae chasing it with a biodegradable spoon.
Their first argument? Over who cried harder during Paddington 2.
Danny had never been in something that felt so... stupidly easy.
He told Beverly.
She grinned. "Mae sounds smart. Question is, why's she into you?"
Danny grinned. "She says I have 'emotional raccoon energy.'"
Beverly clapped. "Finally. Someone who gets it."
One Year Later
The new show took off—The Ones Who Raised Us became a cult hit.
Danny toured towns across the U.S.
But Austin was always home.
And Mae?
Still there. Still laughing.
Still drawing comics about his life and occasionally posting them online. His favorite was one where cartoon Danny fell down a hill chasing a sandwich, and it ended with Mae catching him at the bottom saying, "Still worth it."
One night, on their porch, Danny pulled out a small ring box.
It wasn't smooth.
He dropped it. Twice. Hit his head on the patio table. Knocked over Beverly's flamingo statue.
Mae laughed so hard she cried.
Then said yes before he even finished the question.
Final Scene:
> EXT. WEDDING RECEPTION – ZILKER PARK – EVENING
Danny and Mae dance under string lights.
A mariachi band plays a weirdly funky version of "Don't Stop Believin'."
Beverly catches the bouquet and swears loudly.
Devin officiates in a linen suit he clearly borrowed.
The cake collapses.
The love doesn't.
Danny leans in to whisper in Mae's ear.
"I still think about that tomato."
Mae smiles. "Best accident of my life."
He grins.
"Second best," he says.
She raises an eyebrow.
"The first," he says, "was falling on my face and somehow standing up in the life I was meant to live."